Mobile, expandable, inhabitable structure

ABSTRACT

The invention encompasses an entirely automated room extension intended for larger wheeled structures such as a Recreational Vehicle or a semi trailer that has been modified to form an office or semi-permanent emergency shelter. The extension, having substantially hinged, folding, rigid panels that in the collapsed state are stacked flush forming the exterior surface and with a simple push button will automatically deploy a supporting structure and then automatically expand the panels to form a solid enclosure of usable interior space. A programmable logic controller will activate the extension and contraction of several actuators in such order as to deploy and collapse the enclosure by push button with no manual intervention.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTINGCOMPACT DISC APPENDIX

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mobile, expandable, inhabitablestructure that could be utilized in the recreational vehicle industry orserve as medium-term housing for victims of a disaster.

Recreational vehicles are popular because they provide the owner withmany of the comforts they enjoy at home. The most obvious limitationhowever, is their relatively small size resulting from the widthrestrictions of a normal road or highway. There have been manyvariations of slide-out room extensions but none of those provide theincreased space benefits of this new invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,002 to Tiedge increases the size of a recreationalvehicle by use of an expandable room. While this invention does expandthe usable space, it does not increase it enough to dramatically enhanceperceived living space.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,471 to Gyllenhammar describes a system for expandingthe interior of a central structure consisting of plural hinged andinterconnected panel members movable by means of a hydraulic cylinder,from a flat juxtaposed position within the structure, to an extendedunit supported by a support element. The major drawback to this designis it requires manual intervention to deploy the end walls and wasintended for “smaller units”. Moreover, the support is a stand-alonepiece of equipment and not integral with the structure. Recreationalvehicle owners will require a fully automated expansion system withlarger panels.

U.S. 2002/0149220 A1 to Wishart shows a system for increasing theinterior space of a mobile vehicle, either retrofitted to an existingstructure or manufactured with a new vehicle. The system includes anarray of pivotally interconnected panels that in a collapsed state arereduced to a thin flat stack but are expandable to provide a roomextension. Again this design requires manual intervention to deploy theend walls. Furthermore, there is no identified support to keep thevehicle stable in the expanded configuration.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a room extensionsystem intended for use with large wheeled structures such as arecreational vehicle or semi-trailer that is fully automated during thedeployment process. This system will also automatically deploy asupport/stability device. The unique feature of the system is that itrequires no manual intervention for deployment or retraction. The systemfeatures a deployable/expandable and retractable structure, the movementof which is controlled by the use of a Programmable Logic Controller(PLC) that coordinates the hydraulic, pneumatic and or electricactuation devices. The system includes an integrated and interconnectedarray of panels and plural hydraulic, pneumatic and or electricactuators. The actuators transform a series of vertically disposedpanels in to a laterally expanded elongated enclosure, attached to andextending from the base vehicle. Because of the geometric configurationof the panels and their respective hinged interconnections, and underthe influence of the actuators, the panels pivot upwardly, unfold,extend, and move downwardly as a unit to form the final structure. Anextending support structure will position itself prior to the deploymentof the panels for support thereof in the unfolded and deployed state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIGS. 1-6 are rear views of the structure depicting different stages ofthe deployment process from the non-expanded to the expanded state. FIG.7 shows a side view of the end-walls in the non-expanded state. FIG. 8is a plan view showing the automated deployment process for theend-walls. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the actuators in theend wall. FIGS. 10-13 are cross-sectional views showing the deploymentof the support structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the collapsed state of the basetrailer. The panel 1 forms the exterior wall in the collapsed state andwill form the roof panel in the expanded state. Panels 2 and 3 areinterior in the collapsed state and form the side and floor panelsrespectively in the expanded state. In the Expanded state panel 4 willpivot to form the end walls of the expansion.

Deployment to the expanded state, beginning with the support structure,will only require a push of a button on the PLC. FIG. 2 shows theextending support structure 7 that will be further described in FIGS.10-13. It also shows the beginning of the deployment process, which isaccomplished with the use of hydraulic, pneumatic or electric drivenactuators 5 and 6. As previously noted, the entire expansion process isautomated and would begin with a simple push-button devise.

FIG. 3 depicts the structure in a further state of expansion. Note thatwhile actuator 6 continues to extend, actuator 5 is just pivoting withpanel 3. FIG. 4 illustrates the critical point when panel 1 is at itsvertical peak, actuator 6 is fully extended and panels 2 and 3 becomelinear. It is at this point that actuator 5 begins to exert pressure onpanel 3 and actuator 6 starts to retract. This combination of actuators5 pushing and 6 pulling will slowly lower the expanded unit into ahorizontal position as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

After panels 1, 2 and 3 are fully deployed forming the roof, side andfloor of the expanded structure, the side wall panels 4 will pivot intoplace. FIG. 7 portrays a side-view of the base structure with panels 4in the collapsed position.

FIG. 8 shows a plan view of the base trailer and panels 1, 2 and 3 intheir expanded state. Panel 3 has a semi-circular groove cut in it withgearing on one edge. The left side of the figure shows panel 4 in thecollapsed position. The right side of the FIG. 8 depicts panel 4 in itsfinal expanded position.

FIG. 9 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the expanded structure. Anelectric motor mounted below the base structure will turn a gear 8connected to the supporting beam inside panel 4. Gear 8 has a chaininternal to panel 4, connecting it to gear 9 on the bottom of panel 4.This will allow panel 4 to traverse along the groove in panel 3 untilpanel 4 is in place.

The extending support structure 7 in FIG. 1 will deploy prior to theexpansion of panels 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of theextending support structure showing hydraulic, pneumatic or electricactuators 10, 11 and 12 in the collapsed state. FIG. 11 details actuator10 in its extended position. FIG. 12 shows actuator 11 contracting topull the leg into a vertical position while FIG. 13 portrays actuator 12extending to the ground.

1. A mobile, expandable, inhabitable structure having substantiallyhinged, folding, rigid panels that in the collapsed state are stackedflush forming the exterior surface and with a simple push button willautomatically deploy a supporting structure and then automaticallyexpand the panels to form a solid enclosure of usable interior spacewherein the extension comprises: a) rigid floor and roof panels that areconnected by hinges to the base structure and the longitudinal wall ofthe extension and; b) rigid side walls that are hinged to the basestructure that contain chain driven geared devises that automaticallypivot the panels outwards to enclose the expanded space and; c) anactuating rod attached to the base structure and the roof panel that canexert both a lifting and lowering force to deploy and collapse theextension and; d) an actuating rod attached to the base structure andthe floor panel that can exert both a pushing and pulling force todeploy and collapse the extension and; e) a series of actuating rodsthat exert both a pushing and pulling force to deploy and collapse astructure that will support the extension and; f) a programmable logiccontroller that will activate the actuators extension and contraction insuch order as to deploy and collapse the expanded enclosure by pushbutton with no manual intervention.